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Songbirds threatened by global warming

I tawt I taw a hockey stick?

The New York Times reports,

As the United States experiences a snow shortage, researchers have released a study showing that declining snowfall in the mountainous regions of Arizona is causing a cascading series of effects that are proving devastating to songbirds.

In recent years, scientists have become increasingly intent on understanding how the warming of the earth will affect wildlife populations. A lot of attention has been paid to how climate change has spawned deadly mismatches between animal and plant life cycles. For example, warming temperatures may cause certain plants to bloom earlier than they have historically, whereas some animals may migrate in response to changing light rather than changes in temperature.

But a joint study by researchers at the United States Geological Survey and the University of Montana, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, explores another way that the earth’s warming can affect wildlife. The scientists used ongoing research in mountainous areas of Arizona to examine how a decline in snowfall has reduced five species of songbird populations.

In theory, warming temperatures and less snow might be nice for birds, but it is not working out that way, the researchers found…